The Plot to Save South Africa: The Week Mandela Averted Civil War and Forged a New Nation

On Apr. 10, 1993, a white supremacist assassinated African National Congress leader Nelson Mandela’s protégé, Chris Hani, intending to “ignite a race war that would put a stop to all attempts to end apartheid in South Africa.” In this gripping account of the killing and its aftermath, journalist Malala (We Have Now Begun Our Descent) documents how Mandela and South African president F.W. de Klerk worked together to prevent the country from descending into chaos and rein in the most extreme factions of their respective constituencies, including de Klerk’s hawkish Minister of Law and Order, Hernus Kriel, and Mandela’s fiery confidant Bantu Holomisa, military leader of the Transkei homeland. Interspersing the narrative with snippets of South African history, Malala covers the unrest from the perspectives of ANC leaders, government ministers, far-right agitators, grieving citizens, and those who kept the channel of communication between Mandela and de Klerk open. Despite Mandela’s anger at de Klerk’s failure to acknowledge his government’s past role in covert assassinations, he kept his focus on securing the free and fair elections that would ultimately lead to majority rule in South Africa. Doggedly researched and immersively told, this is a fascinating study of a nation on the brink. (Apr.)